Before I start I will qualify myself by saying I own both the Zeppelin Air and the MM-1.

The terms 'better' and 'more bass' are very ambiguous. I would say that more bass is not always better :)

My MM-1 are the main speakers for my computer. I run them through USB to take advantage of the highest possible sound quality, and the source files are loss-less from iTunes. I do not run any sound modification as I am very happy with the pre-sets. I use them on a daily basis, and sit at a distance of about 3-4 feet from my screen. At this distance the MM-1 offers the best sound I have ever heard, surpassing my old Logitech 5500's by a long shot. The bass is deep and rich, and the music all sounds amazing.

At a distance they do lose some of the magic, but for anything where I will be at such distance or in another room I choose the Zeppelin Air. The Zeppelin Air can also project to a great length and fill a room much better than the MM-1 which can get drowned out in a room of people. Being that it is AirPlay compatible I simply stream music strait from my iPhone. Again on the Zeppelin Air the bass is deep and rich, and the music sounds amazing.

So in short, the MM-1 are best for stationary use when you are close, and the Zeppelin Air is best for distance or projection use.

Normal size 2 prong plug. A wire leads from plug to a voltage converter box that is of typical size as one for a laptop computer- about 5 inches long. Another wire leads from theconverter box to the right loudspeaker.

Length of wire between Left and right speaker I would guess is at least 4 feet. I only use about 2 feet to straddle my 15" Macbook Pro. Unused wire coils up below left speaker.

Thank you for the detailed differences between the two company apporaches.

I went ahead and purchased the B&W MM-1's a few months ago, re-ripped half of my iTunes library in lossless and I have to say that the speakers are similpy amazing.

It allows you to appreciate your music in a whole new way, a way that gives you goose bumps when you listen to your favorite song or CD. The speakers let you listen to music the way music was supposed to be listened to.

The Airport Express USB port is only for USB printing. All audio data is either decoded by the Airport Express on-board Burr-Brown DAC or fed via digital optical mini-Toslink cable to another DAC-equiped device (i.e. audio/video receiver, Apple Hi-Fi). Therefore, you cannot connect the MM-1 to the Airport Express via USB.

Since the MM-1 does not have an digital optical input, you would have to rely on the Airport Express Burr-Brown DAC to decode then pass the audio to the MM-1 via analog cable, which bypasses the MM-1's on-board DAC.

The highest quality connection for these speakers is directly to computer via USB.

I could not find what DAC chip the MM-1 (or Zeppelins) use, so I can't factually answer which device has the superior DAC. I do know that the Burr-Brown PCM2705 used in the Airport Express is NOT low quality. Measured tests have shown it to be a very capable DAC.

Given my fondness for B&W speakers, I would expect that B&W also uses a good quality DAC chip.

These speakers work beautifully with the MacBook Pro. I am a recently retired teacher, and I used those speakers in the classroom for educational dvds, and to show movies right before the Christmas holiday. It really provided theater-quality sound, and the kids loved it!

When it comes to sound, I don't really trust B&O. I heard both - the MM-1 and the BeoLab 4. The BeoLab have more bass and sounded a little bit more detailed in the lower tones, but the peeper of the MM-1's simply better, which makes - for me - a nicer and more personal sound. It comes down to your preferences, but they at least aren't worth more money than the MM-1.

Do the focals have USB input (and thus an internal DAC)? I don't see anything listed about that from what I've read, so if not I would make the move in a heartbeat.

B&W made a VERY smart move by taking control of the DAC in these speakers. Why rely on a $5 DAC in the computer itself to feed quality signal to a $500 pair of well designed speakers?!? Doesn't make sense to me.

I realize that these speakers won't have a thundering low-end and are best-suited for music, but has anyone found them to be suitable for movies as well? My workstation speaker use is probably 80% music and 20% film-watching.

They sound their best when you are sitting at your computer as they are designed that way. Having said that a couple of meters away but still in a frontal position will still sound great. If you want room filling sound with all the detail then you may need to look at a different solution.